Written Answers Tuesday 10 October 2006

Scottish Executive

Crofters Commission

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the staff of the Crofters Commission will be represented on the committee of inquiry on the future of crofting.

Rhona Brankin: : Decisions about the structure and membership of the committee of inquiry have yet to be made.

Crofters Commission

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide assurances to the staff of the Crofters Commission that they will not lose their status as civil servants in future and that it will not be within the remit of the inquiry into crofting to propose that the commission should become a non-departmental public body.

Rhona Brankin: : I can give no such assurance.

Culture

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it takes to promote indigenous crafts within the global market place.

Ms Patricia Ferguson: Support for craft sector businesses is available as part of the generic business support programmes provided by the enterprise networks and Scottish Development International.

Fair Trade

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it takes to encourage fair trade for Scottish producers.

Ross Finnie: When I meet the major retailers, I emphasise how seriously the Executive views the importance of maintaining a sustainable food chain with healthy trading relationships between suppliers and retailers. I also recommended that the Competition Commission’s current inquiry should address the importance of encouraging collaborative trading relationships within the supply chain for groceries so that the commercial viability of primary producers and processors is not undermined by short-term price pressures brought to bear by retailers.

Parliamentary Questions

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will issue substantive answers to questions S2W-25184 to S2W-25186, lodged on 11 April 2006.

Nicol Stephen: I refer the member to the questions S2W-25184 to S2W-25186 answered on 6 October 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Scottish Enterprise

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the new funding arrangements for Scottish Enterprise have had on potential integration of refugees through enterprise.

Nicol Stephen: There are no new funding arrangements for Scottish Enterprise.

  Scottish Enterprise produced an operating plan that outlines its spending plans and operational activities for the current financial year. A copy of the plan can be viewed on the Scottish Enterprise website at:  www.scottish-enterprise.com/what_we_do/operating-plan.htm.

Sports Funding

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what additional funding it has given  sportscotland to support the provision of a 50-metre swimming pool for Aberdeen.

Ms Patricia Ferguson: sportscotland is currently considering proposals from Aberdeen City Council for a 50-metre swimming pool. The Executive has currently committed £28.8 million to the National and Regional Sports Facilities Strategy of which £5 million has been earmarked for the Chris Anderson Stadium project in Aberdeen.

Student Finance

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) mean, (b) mode and (c) median student loan debt is for Scottish borrowers who ceased to be students during 2006 and who were borrowers for at least (i) three and (ii) four years.

Nicol Stephen: The following table shows the mean, mode and median student loan debt for Scottish borrowers who entered repayment in 2006 and who were borrowers for at least (i) three and (ii) four years:

  Student Loan Debt for Scottish Domiciled Borrowers, as at 31 March 2006

  

 
 (i) Borrowers (3 or More Loans)
 (ii) Borrowers (4 or More Loans)


 Mode
£3,228
£3,228


 Median
£9,713
£10,302


 Mean
£9,907
£10,687



  Source: Student Loans Company

  It should be noted that debt is calculated at the point of entering repayment (i.e. 31 March 2006) rather than at the point of graduation. Therefore, the majority of customers who have ceased to be students in 2006 will not enter repayment until 2007 and we cannot provide figures for these students as yet.